Freedom has declined around the
world for the thirteenth consecutive year, according to Freedom House in its
2018 annual report: https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/01/freedom-house-reports-decline-of.html. The report puts an even greater emphasis on
how Donald Trump is undermining liberty in America and globally than in the
2017 report, which I had posted about at the time.
Freedom House cites the challenges
to the United States
constitutional system as threats that undermine political rights and civil
liberties. Not only is the U.S.
withdrawal under Trump from supporting human rights around the world, and also praising
and legitimizing authoritarians and sometimes even specifically praising their
authoritarianism, exacerbating the global rise of authoritarianism, but tyrants
and potential tyrants are copying Trump’s language and methods in concentrating
political power and engaging in corruption.
The independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, the separation of powers,
the constitutional checks and balances, the freedom of the press and the legitimacy of elections are all
under assault under Trump, who is enabled by an inadequate legislative check, although the report observes that other checks have been effective. America ,
once the beacon of freedom, is now an effective example of extinguishing
liberty.
Other Western States were
criticized by Freedom House for failing to stand up enough for freedom
abroad. The report also particularly
chides Australia and Italy for their anti-migrant policies that force
migrants to the remote Pacific island State of Nauru or allow them to be
detained by warring militias in Libya ,
respectively.
A trend toward populism on the left
and right and especially of far-right nationalism was observed in the report. This illiberal nationalism threatens migrants
and sometimes the rights of various minorities.
Minorities have also been especially persecuted by Burma and
Communist China, Freedom House notes.
The
supplanting of elective representative government with repressive autocracy has
been noticeable since the early 2000s, particularly in the Russian Federation , Venezuela
and, in more recent years, Turkey . These States have served as examples of how
democratically elected governments can become authoritarian, using the veneer
of subsequently unfree elections for legitimacy. This trend is evident even in several of the
former Communist States of Eastern Europe . Indeed, a particularly noteworthy part of Freedom
House’s report is that Hungary
is no longer listed as a free country, but only partly free — a first for a
member of the European Union. The report
also observed a trend against term limits for chief executives.
The report
cited threats against Internet freedom, with Communist China as the leading
example, in accord with Freedom House’s report on Internet Freedom I had posted
about in November in Freedom House Reports a Global Decline of Internet
Freedom, Citing the Chinese Model: https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2018/11/freedom-house-reports-global-decline-of.html. The killing of journalists, both at home and
abroad, is frequently mentioned in the report.
Another disturbing trend noted in the report is of unfree States
attacking fellow countrymen living abroad in exile and expatriates more
generally.
There were
several positive developments observed in Freedom House’s report. Despite an overall decline in freedom, there
were improvements in more countries than last year. The report cited improvements in unfree
countries Ethiopia and Angola , and in partly free countries Malaysia , Armenia ,
Ecuador and the Gambia . The report also noted elections in Lebanon and Iraq , including the peaceful
transfer of power in the latter. I have
posted about many of these developments.
Another
positive trend has been the rise of civil movements in countries ranging from
unfree to free, including the United
States for freedom or defense of
constitutional norms or institutions.
These efforts are essential for defending or promoting liberty.
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